David Vaughn

Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hotel For Dogs (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 28, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/hoteldogs.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Two orphans, Andi (Emma Roberts) and her younger brother Bruce (Jake T. Austin), find themselves in a foster home with a strict "no pets" policy, so they set out to find a home for their dog Friday. Using an abandoned hotel in their neighborhood, they soon realize it can house more than just their own dog, and they end up creating a haven for all the strays in the city.

Continue Reading >
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hotel Rwanda (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 23, 2011
Hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) is put between a rock and a hard place when he's confronted with saving his family or doing whatever he can to save over 1,200 Tutsi refugees from being massacred by Hutu extremists.

The world can be an ugly place and in 1994 the situation in Rwanda resulted in over 1 million deaths. Men such as Rusensabagina show us that despite all the bad in the world, there are truly good people that will stop at nothing to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing their own life. Cheadle's performance earned him an Oscar nomination, but in my opinion he was robbed when Jamie Foxx won for his portrayal of Ray Charles.

Continue Reading >
Blu-ray Movie Reviews3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hotel Transylvania
David Vaughn  |  Jun 10, 2013
Picture
3D-ness
Sound
Extras
When Toy Story launched the digital animation genre in 1995, you just knew that every Hollywood studio would eventually set up its own department to cash in on the latest movie trend. Throw in vampires with the Twilight phenomenon and 3D with Avatar, and it was just a matter of time before all three concepts would be mixed together into one picture, hence we get this entertaining animated tale from Sony Pictures.
Continue Reading >
Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
House of the Dragon (Season 1) Review
David Vaughn  |  Nov 21, 2022

Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
Game of Thrones is arguably one of the best TV shows in history — well, at least the first six seasons — and became a cultural phenomenon when it hit HBO in April 2011. It would go on to produce a total of eight seasons and one of the most controversial endings one could ever dream up. Co-creators/showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were ripped to shreds on the Internet — and rightfully so, in this writer’s opinion — leaving viewers to wonder what effect this would have on further projects set within the universe George R. R. Martin crafted in his popular book series.
Continue Reading >
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
How Do You Know (Blu-Ray)
David Vaughn  |  Mar 23, 2011
Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) is in the emotional dumpster after getting cut from the Olympic softball team and shacks up with a major league baseball player and ladies' man, Matty (Owen Wilson) while she tries to put her life back together. Shortly after their relationship takes root she meets George (Paul Rudd), a business man facing his own personal issues with his father and a pending indictment by the Justice Department, and the two become good friends but could there be more to the relationship than she realizes?

Writer-director James L. Brooks' has quite a resume and I guess every now and then even the best of writers will release a stinker, and this certainly qualifies. The love triangle storyline had possibilities between Rudd, Wilson, and Witherspoon, but there are too many loose ends with Rudd's neurotic secretary (Katheryn Hahn) and his father (Jack Nicholson) that could have been excluded to quicken the pace and make the film more interesting.

Continue Reading >
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Oct 13, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/grinch.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The Grinch (Jim Carrey) doesn't have the Christmas spirit, but why? Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) is determined to find out and befriends the Whoville outcast in order to spread her holiday cheer. But as the title suggests, the Grinch has plans of his own.

Continue Reading >
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Aug 15, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/loseguy.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Columnist Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) agrees to write a first-hand account of what drives a man out of a relationship. Her case study turns out to be Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey), an ad-agency bachelor who just happened to make a bet with coworkers that he can get a woman to fall in love with him in&#151;you guessed it&#151;exactly 10 days.

Continue Reading >
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
How to Train Your Dragon (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Oct 08, 2010
Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is a young Viking who marches to the beat of his own drum and is an embarrassment to his father (Gerard Butler). One night while the village is under attack from a swarm of dragons, the young boy shoots down a deadly Night Fury with one of his inventions and discovers it lying in the jungle the next day. Wanting to make his father proud he brandishes his knife and moves in for the kill, but there's something about this dragon that changes his mind and this decision will not only change his life, but those of his people.

DreamWorks animation is best known for Shrek and its numerous sequels but after spending an evening with Dragon, the studio has another hit franchise to exploit. The story is very heartwarming about an underdog misfit who finds his way in the world by developing a most unusual friendship.

Continue Reading >
Subwoofer Reviews
Hsu Research VTF-15H MK2 and VTF-3 MK5 HP Subwoofer Reviews
David Vaughn  |  Jan 16, 2015

VTF-15H MK2
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value

VTF-3 MK5 HP
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $899, $799

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Tremendous bass output
Excellent value proposition
Highly flexible setup controls
Minus
Won’t win any beauty contests
Heavy!

THE VERDICT
Both subs have plenty of bass per dollar and offer lots of adjustments to fine-tune the performance to fit your room.

Robert Southey was an English poet and author whose version of the fabulous children’s story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” was the first one published, in 1837. While the tale has entertained kids for 177 years, little did Southey realize that his story is a fitting metaphor for modern subwoofers. Like the three bears’ porridge, chairs, and beds, subwoofers come in all shapes and sizes, and finding the one that’s “just right” for your particular room can sometimes require sampling different subs and room positions in order to get the best bass response.

Continue Reading >
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hugo
David Vaughn  |  Mar 13, 2012

Based on Brian Selznick's book, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," Hugo is one of the best films from 2011 and it certainly deserved its 11 Academy Award nominations (winning five). Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese brings the magic back to filmmaking and in the process gives the viewers a history lesson on one of the early pioneers in movie making. Going in, I had no idea what this film was about, but was blown away by the reference-quality audio and video presentation as well as the engaging story, believable characters, and exquisite set design. The film was shot on an Arri Alexa digital camera and the level of detail is out of this world. Every shot is razor-sharp in both the foreground and background and I only wish I was sent the 3D version from Paramount because I've read that it has some of the best 3D effects available on Blu-ray. Not to be outshone is the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack that features stupendous dynamic range, pinpoint accuracy with its discrete effects, and astounding frequency response.
Continue Reading >

Pages

X